HAPPINESS IS A CHESHIRE CAT

HAPPINESS IS A CHESHIRE CAT

Possibly a phrase favoured by the people of Cheshire, an English dairy county where a cat might grin because of the abundance of milk and cream. While most often celebrated in Alice in Wonderland contexts, the 'Cheshire Cat' predates the 1865 novel by almost 75 years when it appeared in 'A classical dictionary of the vulgar tongue' (1788) by Francis Grose : "CHESHIRE CAT. He grins like a Cheshire cat; said of any one who shows his teeth and gums in laughing."

But the image here on a piece of crested china surely is a piece of popular culture linked to Lewis Carroll's fictional cat in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland known for its persistent, mischievous grin.

But in this case we have a WILLESDEN GREEN CHESHIRE CAT with the motto of the Willesden Borough Council: Laborare est orare ("to labour is to pray").

Willesden is an area in north west London which forms part of the London Borough of Brent. It is situated 5 miles northwest of Charing Cross. Nothing to do with Cheshire. The name Willesden "derives from the Anglo-Saxon Willesdune, meaning the Hill of the Spring, and a settlement bearing this name dates back to 939 AD. The Domesday Book of 1086 records it as Wellesdone."
(Wikipedia)